In firing surf at Supertubes, Dale Staples from St Francis Bay won the 2017edition of the JBU Supertrial by powering through some of the biggest and deepest barrels of the day. Staples was in rhythm with the ocean from the start, picking up all the best waves on his route to the final.
It was a cold and blustery JBay morning, but there were sets at first lightand the contest organisers showed no hesitation in calling the event on. As thefreezing offshore wind picked up, so the invited surfers hit the perfectlineup, with consistent six-foot waves pouring through.
Former Championship Tour surfer Greg Emslie was a surprise elimination fromround one, after leading for most of the heat. Greg caught a particularly longwave, and after his final turn and kicking out, found himself facing a huge setin front of the reef. "I got caught inside by a big set and pushedonto the reef," said Greg. "By the time I surfaced from the firstwave there was another one, and more behind it. I hit the reef again andeventually got washed all the way down and came in."
Former event champion Dylan Lightfoot and defending champion Steven Sawyerdid not disappoint however, and both won their first round heats. With awildcard into the Corona Open JBay as well as $10k (R127k) up for grabs therewere some determined performances in the breezy conditions with no one giving anyquarter.
WQS competitor and perennial Supertubes standout Dale Staples from StFrancis Bay shone during the first semifinal. With the swell still rising, Dalefound some deep barrels, including one ridiculous 10-point barrel ride at theImpossibles section to emerge with a near-perfect heat score of 19.93 out of apossible 20 points, throwing away a 9.7 as his third wave.
"It's really good to get such great waves for a contest," saidDale after his heat. "That ten-pointer was a nice set wave. It looked likeit was going to run off away from me, but it actually held all the way to theend."
Staples continued his form all the way through to the final, which turnedinto a barrel frenzy as Supertubes, one of the best waves in the world,delivered wave after perfect wave throughout the afternoon. Staples jumped intothe lead early on in the final with one incredible double tube ride, followedby a second high scoring ride, and his lead was unassailable from then on.
Mikey February from Cape Town has been having an excellent season butcouldnt find the good ones out there and finished in fourth place. Local surferMatt McGillivray had been looking good all event and some had him touted forthe win, but he couldnt match Staples incredible tube riding. Former eventchampion, a fit and determined Dylan Lightfoot from JBay, found some of thebiggest waves of the final, but was unable to string together enoughcombination moves to get close to Staples, who won the final with a comfortablelead.
"After I got that early one I was feeling really good, and it’s always great to bank a good score in the beginning, " said a jubilant Staples on the beach afterwards. "Then I got that second nine, and I was stoked and hoping that it would just go flat."
Kouga Mayor Elza Van Lingen came down to support the event and to hand the winner's trophy to Dale Staples, as runner-up Dylan Lightfoot cheers on. © Van Gysen
The wind was howling offshore the whole day, and quite a challenge for allcompetitors, but it actually worked for the victorious Staples.
"The wind was actually beneficial for me in this event," saidStaples. "It was like the wind was just holding the main barrel section upthe whole day. Some of the barrels looked like they were going to shut down onyou and then they just opened up in the wind."
First prize in the JBU Supertrial consists of a wild card into the CoronaOpen JBay, $10k (R127k) as well as the valuable Championship Tour competitiveexperience that comes with it.
Kouga Mayor Elza Van Lingen was in attendance at the event and was rapt with the action in the water. "I'm so proud of all the surfers in the competition, and proud of the fact that we were able to host such an amazing contest," said Van Lingen. "There is nowhere else in the world where we can run such an event, and I can't wait for this all to happen again when the JBay Winterfest comes to the town of Jeffrey's Bay next month. I hope to see you all there."
The Corona Open JBay has a waiting period from 12th – 23rd July, and is partof the JBay Winterfest.
Final Results:
1. Dale Staples (St Francis Bay).
2. Dylan Lightfoot. (JBay).
3. Matt McGillivray (JBay).
4. Mikey February (Kommetjie).
